Later on, King d.Avid would have his new assistant (who replaced Sandy) to put in a call to one of them, but no one ever bothered to call him back. “We haven’t heard from him yet?” “She hasn’t returned my call?” King d.Avid would ask repeatedly, having waited a few weeks for, say, Pearson or his former assistant to call back or come by.
“I hate to say it, but if you ask me, I’d say that Pearson was never really there for you. Especially not if he could just leave you like he did without ever even trying to check on you,” Vincent said. “But it’s okay. I’m here. Kendall is here,” he said, referring to Kendall McNair, the assistant he’d brought in when he took over completely and cleared out all the remnants of King d.Avid’s past associates. “Neither of us have any plans on going anywhere anytime soon, either. And you can bank on that.”
So King d.Avid stopped trying and decided when they wanted him, they knew where and how to find him. His door, as well as access to him, would always be open for people such as Pearson, his trusted former assistant Sandy, ex-bodyguard Jake, Pearson’s grandson Mack, and a few other people he’d instructed his staff to always put through or let in no matter what, when, or where, should they ever reach out to him.
But after four years, no one had tried. Not one. And Jonathan was dead.
He and Jonathan had promised they would always be there for each other. It had been hard, especially when Jonathan’s father turned so viciously against David. And shortly after David became King d.Avid the solo artist, Jonathan’s father fed the tabloids (and any news outlets that would listen) all kinds of information (lots of things flat-out lies) about him. Jonathan’s father wanted to kill David’s career before it could take off good. Not wanting to hurt his friend or his career, Jonathan had thought it best that they distance themselves, at least until he could ensure that his father had calmed down. The last time the two friends actually spoke in depth was right before Jonathan married.
King d.Avid chucked the magazine onto the coffee table. He decided it was time he took matters into his own hands. He may have missed out on doing what he could for Jonathan while he was alive, but there had to be something now that he could do to keep his promise to his friend. Something. King d.Avid called in Chad Holston, the head of his security, and asked him to find out whether Jonathan had any children left—legitimate or otherwise.
“Oh, and Chad, don’t let anyone know I asked you to do this,” King d.Avid said. “And whatever you find out, bring that information directly to me and me only.”
“But, sir, Vincent has given us strict instructions that we let him know of anything you need or have requested of us. He said that as your manager, he always needs to be in the know,” Chad said.
King d.Avid nodded. “Chad, who signs your paycheck?”
Chad smiled. “Yes, sir. I’ll get right on this and do just as you’ve requested, sir.”
“Thank you. I appreciate that.”
Within hours, Chad had come back with information that he read from a printout. “Jonathan Samuelson was killed during a robbery invasion in his home. His wife of six years was shot, apparently while trying to flee from the robbers in an attempt to save their five-year-old son’s life. When she was shot, she dropped him, then must have tumbled down after him, landing on top of him, which, as stated in the police report, is probably what ended up saving the child’s life. Both of his legs were badly crushed from the traumatic fall. Nine years old now, his legs have never fully recovered.”
King d.Avid looked up toward the ceiling. “And where is he? Who has him?”
Chad looked back at the printed paper. “After his parents were killed, there was no one to take care of him. Grandparents were gravely ill, then both died from their illness within months of each other. An elderly woman named Stella Reid, who had been his babysitter since he was an infant, quickly stepped in and became his foster mother.”
“He has an aunt—Jonathan’s half sister. Her name is Michaela.”
“There’s nothing listed on this report about a Michaela. But two years after the elderly woman took custody, she fell ill and died. The state was about to take the child and put him through the system when a man named Mack Wright stepped in and petitioned to take him in.”
“Mack Wright? I remember Mack,” King d.Avid said with a puzzled look. “He was Pearson’s grandson. Pearson is the man who got my name on the map. Mack used to shadow his grandfather whenever he could, trying to learn the business. I suspect he was planning on taking over for his grandfather when his grandfather retired. I remember the day he and Jonathan met that first time. Jonathan never met a stranger. But I never knew they were close enough for Mack to do something like take in his son.”
“According to this”—Chad shook the paper—“that’s exactly what he did. He’d been the only other constant in the child’s life, other than Stella. After the father was killed, Mack became something of a father figure to him. I suppose the courts felt it was fitting to allow him to have custody, even though he was a single man, especially when no other family member contested or appeared to want him. They moved from Montgomery and now live in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where Mack is presently employed.”
King d.Avid shook his head as he frowned. “I hate hearing something like this. My best friend’s child left with almost no one wanting him? That’s just wrong, so wrong, on so many levels.” His body shuddered. “Chad, I’d like for you to arrange for him to be brought here to my house to see me.”
“Sir?”
“I’d like for you to bring him . . . what’s the child’s name?”
Chad looked down at the paper again. “Melvin Samuelson.”
“I’d like for you to bring Melvin here to visit with me,” King d.Avid said.
“But sir. I can’t just show up and make someone just come with me. His guardian is not going to let me just take him and bring him here merely on your orders,” Chad said. “Even if that someone is King d.Avid. And you also know you can’t trust letting everybody in here. Too many people want a piece of you these days. You know this.”
“Give me that, please,” King d.Avid said, holding out his hand for the paper Chad held.
“Sir, I’m not saying I can’t do it. I’m just saying you have to think this through. What if he and his guardian come here and start trying to plot ways to get money out of you. It’s my job to protect you. And I must say that I’m paid handsomely to do just that.”
“And you do an outstanding job.” King d.Avid flicked his hand out again, letting Chad know he still wanted the paper he held.
Chad handed him the paper. “Listen, King, sir. Let me do a deeper background check on them both first to make sure things are safe before you proceed.”
King d.Avid took out his cell phone and began to press the corresponding phone number on the paper that was listed as being Mack’s.
“Sir, you shouldn’t be calling someone like him from your private cell phone number.” Chad reached over and respectfully took the phone away. Chad then pulled his phone from its holder. “Here.” He handed King d.Avid his phone. “At least use mine. That way if there’s a problem down the road, they’ll be phoning me and not you.”
“You worry too much,” King d.Avid said with a slight chuckle.
“No, sir. It’s my job to ensure your protection, and that’s what I intend to do.”
King d.Avid pressed the numbers, using Chad’s phone. He spoke with Mack, who confessed he was more than surprised to hear from him.
“I know Christmas is next week,” King d.Avid said to Mack after they’d put to rest most of the suspicions either may have had about the other. “But if you don’t mind and you feel it’s okay, I’d love to have Melvin come here to my home in Atlanta and spend a day or two with me. I’m available this weekend if that would work for the two of you. I can fly you in or send my limo for you, whichever you feel would work best for you.”
When Mack didn’t readily agree, King d.Avid added, “I owe his father at least this much. Come on, M
ack. Please. I’d love to see and visit with Jonathan’s son.”
Mack took a little more time, asking more questions before he finally agreed.
An hour hadn’t even passed before Vincent stormed in to King d.Avid’s all-white living room where he sat. “If you’re going to do something charitable like this, then you should consider using it and getting all you can out of it,” Vincent said. “Do you know what kind of publicity you can receive bringing a crippled child into your home for a day of Christmas cheer, no less? It’s a brilliant PR move! Golden! I don’t know why I didn’t think of it. And why didn’t you tell me that you were thinking about doing something like this? Instead, I had to find out from Kendall, who by the way, is an excellent shopper. So asking her to go Christmas shopping for this nine-year-old child was absolutely right up her alley.”
“We’re not using this as a publicity stunt,” King d.Avid said solemnly and matter-of-factly.
“What?” Vincent came closer and stood over King d.Avid as he sat there on the glaringly white couch with his legs crossed. “What do you mean we’re not using this for publicity?”
“Just what I said. I’m not doing this to further my career or to make people think I’m some great, charitable person. I’m doing this because of a promise I made to a dear friend a long time ago. A friend I didn’t even get to talk with much before he died. A friend, in fact, that I didn’t even know had died until weeks after his funeral.”
Vincent sat down in the white wingback chair across from King d.Avid. “I told you I was sorry about that. I didn’t know he was that important to you. Had I known, I promise I would have made sure his calls got through. And I definitely would have made sure you got the message that he’d been killed. But then again, you were dealing with that PR nightmare of a divorce from your third wife, much like now with your current wife. Man, that one still gives me chills thinking about it. We were all in a tizzy back then.”
“But I told you who all were important to me, Vincent. I told you. It’s hard for me to believe you merely made a mistake when it came to my friend Jonathan. Well, there’s nothing either of us can do to change that now. My friend may be gone, but there is something that I can do for his son. And I’m planning on doing that without fanfare from your end or any ulterior motives. Period. End of discussion. Whatever I do for him is coming completely from my heart. Understood?”
“Of course,” Vincent said with a smile and a nod. “But you know I can’t control what other people do. Who’s to say that this Mack fellow won’t leak it to the media?”
“Who said anything about Mack?”
“Excuse me?” Vincent said with a slightly nervous frown.
“I never mentioned Mack or Jonathan’s name. All I told Kendall is that I needed her to buy things for a nine-year-old boy. I informed her he was crippled because I wanted to be sure that whatever she bought was appropriate, considering his condition. But I never told her his, my late friend Jonathan’s, or his guardian’s name.” King d.Avid uncrossed his leg and leaned forward. “So how would you happen to know this?”
“Listen, I know you might not understand this fully, but I’ve worked very hard to get you where you are today.”
“Oh, you’ve worked very hard? So I suppose the Lord and I had nothing to do with my ultimate success.”
“King d.Avid, you know what I mean. And I’m not going to let up on doing my job and allow you to do something that will undermine all of our works: mine, yours, or the Lord’s. So I keep my finger on the pulse of everything that goes on around here. That’s my job. After I found out that Kendall was about to go shopping on your behalf, I questioned Chad.”
King d.Avid began to nod slowly. “Oh, yeah. And Chad sang like a bird.”
“Actually, he didn’t. It took a bit of doing, but I finally got it out of him. Chad’s loyal to you, you can believe that. And as long as he’s a good and loyal team member, I will agree that he should remain as head of security.”
“Hmmm. I see. So I guess you make all of these types of decisions on my behalf?”
“In accordance with you,” Vincent said with a grin and another nod. “King, what’s getting into you? You’ve never acted this way before. You know I’m your ace; you know I’m here for you and only you. There’s still more for us to conquer; more listening hearts, more fans waiting to be possessed. And between the two of us, we’re going to get all we can. You always told me you didn’t like ‘yes’ people in your life. Well”—Vincent leaned forward—“I’m the one who will stand up for you and to you, even if it means having to fight you, in order to do it.”
“Right,” King d.Avid said, biting down on his bottom lip. “Well, you just make sure that my visit this weekend with Melvin doesn’t end up leaving these walls. And I’m not worried about Mack putting it out there. So if it does just happen to leak out, believe me, I’ll be looking uncompromisingly in your direction. And trust me, Vincent: things won’t be pretty. Understand?”
Vincent smiled curtly. “Absolutely.” He stood up. “Don’t bother getting up. I’ll let myself out, the same way I let myself in.”
King d.Avid sat back against the couch and closed his eyes. He began to pray and to thank God for all of his blessings.
Chapter 6
Then king David sent, and fetched him out of the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, from Lo-debar.
—2 Samuel 9:5
Brianna looked out of the window. For some reason, there was a white, stretch limousine in her driveway. She didn’t have a clue who it could be. The front passenger-side limo door opened and a big bulked, light-skinned man, with a perfectly clean-shaven head, stepped out. He walked to the driver’s side back door and opened it. She saw the tall, lean, and handsome dark-skinned man step out and stand up, adjusting his stylish, long black suit coat, his signature apparel.
She opened her door and ran outside, straight into his arms. “Mack!” Brianna said, as the two of them hugged.
“Little sister,” Mack said. “Look at you.” He stepped back and scanned her from head to toe. “Marriage looks like it’s definitely agreeing with you.”
“Yeah, well.” She hugged him again. “What are you doing here? Why didn’t you call and let me know you were coming? I would have cooked already.”
“Well, I can’t stay but a few minutes. I’m here visiting with someone else, but you know I couldn’t dare come to Atlanta and not stop by and say hello to my beautiful little sister.” Mack glanced at the house. “So this is where you live?”
“Yeah. It’s not much, but it’s a start.”
“It’s more than a lot of people have, so don’t knock it,” Mack said.
“Oh, I wasn’t knocking it. I would never do that. I’m thankful for what we have,” Brianna said. “But you still haven’t answered my question. What are you doing here?” She looked inside of the limo and saw the young boy.
Mack smiled. “As I said, I’m here visiting with someone, but I wanted to swing by and see you first . . . see where you live and all. I also wanted to introduce you to Melvin.” He nodded toward the nine-year-old in the limousine. “He’s part of our family now. After two years, it’s finally official. The adoption was just finalized.”
Brianna smiled as she stuck her head inside of the limo. “Hi there, Melvin. I’m Brianna. It’s nice to meet you.” She presented her hand to him to shake.
“Hi, Auntie Brianna. Daddy Mack has told me all about you. He even showed me pictures of you when you were a little girl. I’m pleased to finally meet you,” a bubbly Melvin said, giving her hand a quick and deliberate pump.
“Oh,” she said, placing her hand over her heart. “You called me Auntie Brianna.” She touched his other hand that rested on one of his legs. It was then that she really gave notice to the braces on his legs. Standing back up straight, she looked at Mack and said, “You’re not going to come inside at all? Not even for a few minutes?”
“No. We have to be somewhere.” Mack discreetly used his head to point at Me
lvin to indicate it was for him.
Brianna lowered her voice, almost to a whisper. “So . . . where are you going?”
The man who had opened the door for Mack suddenly rocked his otherwise stilled, at-attention stand, a few times. Mack didn’t even glance his way.
“Brianna, I’m going to have to come up another time, and you and I will spend some real quality time together.” Mack hugged her. “But we do have to run. I love you.”
“Oh, I get it. Nona,” Brianna said, nodding her head as she grinned.
Mack grinned back, then let out a quick, short laugh. “Nona. Well, I must say, I haven’t heard or said that one in a long while. ‘What are you doing?’ Nona. ‘Where are you going?’ Nona. ‘What’s nona?’ None of your business.”
Brianna smiled. “So you don’t have to say it, big brother. I get it. It’s nona—none of my business. But, I am glad you came by. I absolutely would have been upset with you had I found out you were here in the city and you didn’t even have the decency to come by. Especially since you didn’t make it to my Thanksgiving dinner, which, incidentally, was fabulous. And you haven’t been here to see us since we moved to Atlanta.”
“That’s precisely why I came by. It’s just been a lot going on lately. You know. It’s been really hard.” Mack put his arm around her shoulders, squeezing her against him.
Brianna broke away from her brother’s grip after a few more squeezes, bent down, and smiled once again at Melvin. “I’m looking forward to you coming back soon and really getting to visit with me. You hear? I know my husband would love to meet you. So you can’t be a stranger any longer. I want to spend time with you. I mean it.”
“Okay, Auntie Brianna,” Melvin said. “I’m sure Daddy Mack and I will be back.” He leaned toward her. “If Daddy Mack says it, he’s going to keep his word. You can count on it, no matter what the devil may do to try and stop things. Right, Daddy Mack?”
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